The following is the complete text of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard’s statement presented on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on February 15, 2007.

“Madame Speaker, I rise to support the resolution and to express my opposition to the President’s plan to send additional troops to Iraq.

While I rise as a member of this House who opposed authorization of the Iraq war, I also rise as a member of the new congressional Majority—representing millions of Americans who voted for a new direction in Iraq.

And I rise representing my own 34th Congressional District of California whose constituents overwhelmingly oppose this troop increase.

Perhaps most importantly, I rise as the proud step-mother of a US Army serviceman who served in Iraq, and the proud wife of a Marine who saw two tours of duty in Vietnam. 

While I will never personally experience war on the ground, I can speak from a wife and mother’s perspective about what it means to have a loved one sent into harm’s way. 

More than four years ago, I spoke from that very perspective when I, with many of my colleagues, urged the President to exhaust all diplomatic efforts, give the UN weapons inspectors a chance to finish their job, and if necessary, establish a multilateral coalition force to confront Saddam before invading Iraq. 

These steps would have made it possible to say to my step-son and to all of our nation’s sons and daughters, “your country did everything in its power to keep you from harm’s way.”

Regrettably, the President did not do everything in his power to keep them from harm’s way.

We know now that decisions to invade Iraq were based on at best faulty intelligence, and at worst, intelligence skewed to favor a specific policy outcome.   

It is breathtaking now to consider how incomplete, simplistic, or just plain wrong our intelligence and projections were about the need to invade Iraq.
 
It is breathtaking to consider the costs to this nation of this ill conceived and mismanaged war in which billions of dollars have been spent without significant and appropriate oversight of the war effort, the occupation, or the plan for reconstruction and withdrawal from Iraq.

Even more tragic is the huge price that has been paid in American and Iraqi lives, and in our esteem around the world.

Madame Speaker, I share the commitment of my husband and step-son and that of all Americans to defend this nation against our enemies.

And I believe, even as a peaceful nation, we should be resolute in our determination to defend our country against hostile interests. 

But the bar to war must be set high, and information on which we base our entry into war or escalate our involvement, must be clear, compelling, and as unfiltered as possible.

The President did not in good faith make the case to preemptively and unilaterally go to war in Iraq, and he has not made the case for this escalation.  

He has not explained to the American people why after four failed escalations this one will succeed.  Even many of his Generals and military advisors oppose his plan.

To give approval to this Administration to continue its failed strategy and put into jeopardy the lives of an additional 20,000 troops, defies common sense.

Madame Speaker, we will forever be grateful to the brave men and women in uniform who have done everything they have been asked to do valiantly and courageously.

Therefore, I hope the debate over this resolution is absent the charges that we undermine their mission or morale.

For this is nonsense.  There is not a Member in this body that does not respect and honor their service and support their efforts. 

Our message is to the commander-in-chief, not the brave troops who serve our nation.

Four years ago I asked myself whether we were doing everything in our power to keep our nation’s sons and daughters out of harm’s way.

Four years later, I stand here to oppose this escalation, and ask that we begin the process of doing everything in our power to take our sons and daughters out of harm’s way and bring them safely home.”
 

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